Difference between revisions of "Matra Alice"

From CPCWiki - THE Amstrad CPC encyclopedia!
Jump to: navigation, search
(→‎Links)
 
(23 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 +
[[Image:Matra Alice all.jpg|600px|right|thumb|Alice, Alice 32 and Alice 90]]
 +
[[Image:Alice 8000 lateral.jpg|400px|right|thumb|Alice 8000]]
 
The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice is a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983. It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.
 
The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice is a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983. It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.
  
−
The Alice is distinguished by its bright red casing. Functionally, it is equivalent to the MC-10, with a SCART connector replacing the RF modulator for video output.
+
The Alice is distinguished by its bright red casing. Functionally, it is equivalent to the MC-10, with a SCART connector replacing the RF modulator for video output and an AZERTY keyboard instead of QWERTY.
  
−
The Alice never became a popular computer in its home country. It tried to invade schools by being part of the country's Plan Informatique pour Tous ("Information technology for everyone") programme, but Thomson won the whole deal. Less than 50 games were released for the system.
+
The Alice never became a popular computer in its home country. It tried to invade schools by being part of the country's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing_for_All Plan Informatique pour Tous] ("Computing for All") programme, but Thomson won the whole deal.
  
 
The original model had 4 kB of RAM and used a Motorola 6847 video display generator chip, as used in the Dragon 32 and Acorn Atom among others.
 
The original model had 4 kB of RAM and used a Motorola 6847 video display generator chip, as used in the Dragon 32 and Acorn Atom among others.
Line 24: Line 26:
 
== Later models ==
 
== Later models ==
  
−
The Matra Alice 32, released in 1983, shared the case style of the original, but was a different computer inside, due to using the EF9345 video chip instead of the Motorola 6847. The Alice 32 had 8 kilobytes of main RAM, 8 kilobytes of dedicated video RAM, and 16 kilobytes ROM (the ROM incorporated an assembler). The CPU was clocked at 1 MHz. Higher resolution graphic modes included 320 X 192 with 16 colors from a 256 color palette.
+
The Matra Alice 32, released in 1983, shared the case style of the original, but was a different computer inside, due to using the EF9345 video chip instead of the weaker Motorola 6847. This gave it higher resolution semi-graphic mode 320 x 250 pixels max in 8 colours. The Alice 32 had 8 kilobytes of main RAM, 8 kilobytes of dedicated video RAM, and 16 kilobytes ROM (the ROM incorporated an assembler). The CPU was clocked at 1 MHz.
  
 
The Matra Alice 90, released in late 1984, was an upgrade to the Alice 32, which featured 32 kilobytes of RAM and a full-size case and keyboard. Its video cable included video-in, so EF9345 graphics could be overlaid onto the input video.
 
The Matra Alice 90, released in late 1984, was an upgrade to the Alice 32, which featured 32 kilobytes of RAM and a full-size case and keyboard. Its video cable included video-in, so EF9345 graphics could be overlaid onto the input video.
  
−
The Matra Alice 8000, released in 1985, was a more powerful machine with two CPUs, a 6803 at 4,9152MHz and a Intel 8088. It had 64KB of RAM.
+
The Matra Alice 8000, released in 1985 as a prototype preseries of 125 machines, was a more powerful machine with two CPUs, an MC6803 at 1.2288 MHz and an Intel 8088 at 5MHz. It had 64KB of RAM.
 +
 
 +
== Links ==
 +
 
 +
*[https://alice.system-cfg.com/ Le (wiki) d'Alice] Alice Wiki
 +
*[http://alice32.free.fr/documentation/index.html Documentation Alice]
 +
*[[Media:MC6803 CPU datasheet.pdf|Motorola MC6803 CPU datasheet]]
 +
*[[Media:MC6847 MOS Video Display Generator (Motorola).pdf|Motorola MC6847 VDG datasheet]]
 +
*[[Media:EF9345 datasheet.pdf| SGS-Thomson EF9345 datasheet]]
 +
*[http://alice32.free.fr/ DCAlice] Emulator for Windows and collection of 86 programs and games
 +
*[https://youtu.be/du5enAwBLow Je vous dis tout sur ALICE, sans tabous !] by [[Olipix]]
 +
 
 +
<br>
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Non CPC Computers]]

Latest revision as of 18:59, 10 December 2024

Alice, Alice 32 and Alice 90
Alice 8000

The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice is a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983. It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.

The Alice is distinguished by its bright red casing. Functionally, it is equivalent to the MC-10, with a SCART connector replacing the RF modulator for video output and an AZERTY keyboard instead of QWERTY.

The Alice never became a popular computer in its home country. It tried to invade schools by being part of the country's Plan Informatique pour Tous ("Computing for All") programme, but Thomson won the whole deal.

The original model had 4 kB of RAM and used a Motorola 6847 video display generator chip, as used in the Dragon 32 and Acorn Atom among others.

Specifications

  • CPU: Motorola 6803 at 0.89 MHz
  • RAM: 4 KiB on-board, expandable to 20 KiB with a plug-in memory module
  • ROM: 8 KiB (Microsoft BASIC)
  • Display: Motorola 6847, 32 x 16 or 64 x 32 with 8 colors, 160 x 125 with 4 colors (with expanded RAM)
  • Sound: 1 channel, 5 octaves
  • Keyboard: AZERTY layout

I/O Ports:

  • RS-232C serial interface
  • Cassette interface
  • Péritel video output
  • Expansion interface

Later models

The Matra Alice 32, released in 1983, shared the case style of the original, but was a different computer inside, due to using the EF9345 video chip instead of the weaker Motorola 6847. This gave it higher resolution semi-graphic mode 320 x 250 pixels max in 8 colours. The Alice 32 had 8 kilobytes of main RAM, 8 kilobytes of dedicated video RAM, and 16 kilobytes ROM (the ROM incorporated an assembler). The CPU was clocked at 1 MHz.

The Matra Alice 90, released in late 1984, was an upgrade to the Alice 32, which featured 32 kilobytes of RAM and a full-size case and keyboard. Its video cable included video-in, so EF9345 graphics could be overlaid onto the input video.

The Matra Alice 8000, released in 1985 as a prototype preseries of 125 machines, was a more powerful machine with two CPUs, an MC6803 at 1.2288 MHz and an Intel 8088 at 5MHz. It had 64KB of RAM.

Links


Retrieved from "https://gryzor.info/index.php?title=Matra_Alice&oldid=120919"